


I'll Be Here (When You Get Home)

by ObliqueOptimism



Series: A Friend of Mine [6]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Drug/Alcohol Relapse, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-01-14 15:29:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18479089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObliqueOptimism/pseuds/ObliqueOptimism
Summary: Sometimes the Hargreeves forgot that Klaus had been to war. (Even though his war buddies visited often.)





	1. Luther

**Author's Note:**

  * For [siriuspiggyback](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuspiggyback/gifts).



> this is thanks to [siriuspiggyback](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuspiggyback/pseuds/siriuspiggyback) for the prompt: I'd love a fic about times that reminded everyone that klaus was a vet. like times he had flashbacks or knew how to speak Vietnamese or was too familiar with guns?

Luther got home late that night. He’d been out with Diego, trying to help mend their relationship. The whole family was working on that; to better themselves. Phil had suggest he join Diego on some “nighttime shenanigans,” meaning his vigilante stuff. Which was actually wonderful, he understood why Diego would go out most nights and do that now, not waiting for a mission, just saving people who needed to be saved. Between fights they spoke some. Apparently Phil had suggested to Diego that he maybe get at P.I. licence since he didn’t think going back to the police academy would be ideal for him. Luther thought that was a great idea.

Diego did like to fight authority. 

They’d gone separate ways after getting food at a late night diner together. The waitress recognized Diego and thankfully didn’t mention much when Luther ordered half the menu. His appetite was always large, but much to his embarrassment it grew after the accident. 

They’d said their goodbyes and then went to their respective homes after that. 

It was nice knowing that when he went back to the mansion that it wasn’t just him (and mom and Pogo) but Klaus (and Ben and Dave) and Five (and Delores). It didn’t feel as empty as it was before he went to the moon. And he’d been doing better at trying to listen to his brothers and respect them in their own home.

It was hard and sometimes he forgot himself, but he was working on it. 

He’d started watching Ellen with Phil and Klaus when he could. He’d started standing in the doorway and then slowly inching into the room. Klaus had kept giving him odd looks but Phil would whisper something to Klaus and then that was that. The other day he sat on the same sofa as Klaus. Sure, Klaus had his knees up to his chest and gave him a few looks during the commercials, but Luther felt an emotion he couldn’t name when afterwards Klaus asked if could paint Luther’s fingernails.

_”I promise it can be a neutral color. Or even clear! I just find it relaxing to do other’s nails and it's not like I can do Dave or Ben’s.”_

He’d glanced at Phil for advice and Phil gave a slight nod and waved his own neutral colored nails.

He’d agreed. 

It was pleasant. 

And now after tonight his nails were still as shiny as the clear coat had made them. He could understand why people did their nails. It made him feel really nice. 

But coming home that night, he hadn’t realized what all Klaus was going through. Not that Klaus talked much with Luther on any great emotional depth, and to be fair, Luther didn’t either, but he was _working_ on it. However Luther didn’t realize how even something as simple as sleeping was something that Klaus struggled with.

Walking passed the first sitting room, Luther had to pause. There was a small noise. What if someone had followed him home? 

His frame made it hard to sneak, but he did his best to peer into the room. He saw Klaus on a sofa. One of the more uncomfortable ones. Not much of a pillow under his head and a blanket wrapped around his legs. It looked like he had planned to fall asleep on the sofa instead of his bed. 

And he was having a nightmare.

A bad one.

Stepping closer, he thought he’d wake him up. That was the kind thing to do, right? If someone was having a nightmare you woke them. He knew he always wished someone would wake him up when he had nightmares (usually about being alone on the moon as he had to watch the world end, sometimes it was his family dying in his arms like Ben had). 

“Klaus? Wake up,” Luther wondered if he should be louer but it felt like he needed to be gentle about this.

Luther was about to shake his shoulder to help wake him when he heard Ben (but didn’t see him), “He’s a vet. If you don’t want to be punched, wake him by his foot or throw something at him.”

Luther took some steps back. He’d forgotten _again_ that Klaus was a veteran, “What?”

He heard Ben sigh, “Trust me, he has a mean right hook. Either shake his foot or throw a pillow or balled up paper at him.”

At the very distressed noise Klaus gave out, Luther decided he didn’t have time to find some paper so he shook his foot, “Klaus, wake up.”

At the lightest touch, Klaus shot up and his arm did jab out fast. Luther was glad Ben had warned him.

Klaus was breathing fast, his chest visibly heaving as his eyes jumped around the room, “Luther?” He pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, _“Of course it’s Luther, no one else has that silhouette.”_

It was then that he realized that while a lamp in the room had been left on, the hallway light coming from the doorway would be behind him. Possibly making a frightening giant silhouette. Trying to make himself smaller, he asked, “You okay?”

“Peachy.” Klaus leaned back and blinked up at Luther, “Thanks for waking me.”

Luther frowned, “Why were you sleeping down here?”

“My bed is too soft,” Klaus shrugged as if what he said made sense.

“Huh?” It was the same bed Klaus always had. He’d never had trouble sleeping on it growing up.

“Luther, I haven’t had a proper bed in fifteen years. Give or take,” He glanced up at Luther and upon seeing Luther’s confused look he seemed to take pity on him. “I was homeless since I moved out. If I wasn’t sleeping on the literal street I was usually on someone’s sofa or a cot at a homeless shelter. Then I was at war in ‘Nam and the cots were as nice as the ones at the shelter, if a little more blood on them, and I upgraded concrete streets with the dirt of the jungle floor.”

“Klaus,” Luther whispered. He hadn’t ever put thought into what sleeping while homeless would be like. Why hadn’t he ever wondered? Never worried? Hell half the time he forgot Klaus had been homeless (why was it so hard to remember these _important_ facts about his brother?) His dad had always shut Luther down whenever he mentioned checking in on Klaus, but shouldn’t he have thought more about Klaus? Not just listened blindly to his father?

“So I’ve been sleeping down here. My bed is just too soft. It’s uncomfortable. Even the beds at rehab were hard as rocks, like I’m used to,” Klaus pulled his knees up and motioned for Luther to sit.

Luther walked over and sat, trying to process what his brother was saying. Even when he was on the moon Luther had a comfortable bed. It was one of the few luxuries they could grant him. He felt another emotion he couldn’t place sit low in his gut as he thought about something as simple as a bed was fucked for Klaus. “Do you, uh -- Should we get you a cot or a more uncomfortable _comfortable_ bed for your room? So you can still have the privacy of your room?”

Klaus gave a small smile, “That’s thoughtful, big guy. Thanks.”

Luther nodded but didn’t get up yet. Klaus didn’t seem like he wanted to kick him off his sofa (his _bed_ ). After a few moments he turned to Klaus, “What if tonight we-- no, sorry. It’s stupid.”

“What is it?” Klaus asked quietly. This nighttime Klaus was so different than Luther was used to. Softer.

Taking a breath, Luther said, “Well, I’m not tired yet and you probably don’t want to sleep right away and we are in the sitting room with a tv. I’d always wanted to do a sleepover thing. We could make popcorn and fall asleep down here watching bad movies?”

Klaus let out a surprised laugh, “That sounds great, actually. I wouldn’t mind not being alone right now -- Ben I didn’t mean it like that, I meant with someone living. No that’s not a mean thing to say it’s just a fact.” He rolled his eyes and pointed to the air where Luther had heard Ben talk earlier, “This guy, amiright?”

Luther grinned, vaguely wondering why he couldn’t hear Ben now, “Well Ben would be invited to our sleepover.”

“He says he better be,” Klaus shook his head fondly. “Go put your stupid academy pajamas that you still wear like a nerd while I make popcorn. Ben can pick the movie? That way if we fall asleep during it we won’t be missing something we really wanted to see.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Luther patted Klaus on the shoulder after he got up. 

As Luther changed and grabbed his pillows and blankets from his own bed, he hoped that what he was doing tonight helped Klaus. And he’d have to talk to Pogo about the bed thing, because Klaus probably wouldn’t. Klaus deserved a bed he could sleep in. It was the least he could do for him.


	2. Allison

Allison didn’t know Phil very well. She spent half her time across the country with Claire (and Patrick) trying to mend that relationship, so she just wasn’t around at the Academy as much as the others. She’d had a few conversations with the man, mostly remembering the night of the welcome home party he threw Klaus. 

Which, that was a surprise itself. That he had been gone long enough to throw a welcome home party. Apparently it’d been ten months. 

A lot could happen in ten months.

Like making a bond with the men he served with so tight that fifty years later they planned parties for him. 

But Phil was a nice guy. He’d even given her some advice for dealing with Patrick as his wife apparently had taken main custody of his kids when they split. He also had amazing advice for a parent trying to get to know and stay connected with their daughter. And when she said the wrong thing, he was so understanding, realizing that she had grown up abused and didn’t always know what was actual right and what was actually wrong.

Patrick never afforded her that thoughtfulness.

However it wasn’t like she knew the man, which is why it was a surprise when she let herself into the Academy only to be greeted with him helping himself to a cup of coffee in the kitchen and he smiled _so warmly_ at her. 

“Hello Allison,” He sipped his coffee and ignored the sound of Klaus yelling upstairs.

“Phil,” she nodded. “How are you?”

Glancing towards the ceiling as the sound of Klaus falling down, he said, “Well Spook and I are about to go thrift shopping. It’s the twins birthday in a few days and Klaus demanded I help him pick out something for them.”

“I didn’t realize he knew them so well?” Allison was hesitant.

“Oh, I’ve been forcing him to come to our bimonthly family dinners. The fucker can deal with two more meddlesome women in his life.” After a pause he added, “Not that you and Vanya aren’t enough, but two more wouldn’t hurt.”

“I didn’t once think that you were trying to replace us with your daughters for him,” Allison assured him. “If more people want to watch out for him, the better. After all, I’m not always around to do sisterly things.”

It was good she was an actress because at first it did almost feel like Phil was going to try and take her brother away from them. She knew they were best friends and that he understood Klaus like no one in his family did, and hearing that he went to Phil’s family dinners hurt a bit. 

Allison had been working on her jealousy and need to control since she lost Claire. Seeing a weekly therapist did wonders for her. She knew that Phil didn’t want to _steal_ her brother away from them, she saw how he helped Klaus. How he had helped them all, without asking for any help in return. 

Besides, she hadn’t been there for Klaus for years and Phil had. Phil had apparently found him when he was homeless junkie and would check in on him, even though Klaus didn’t know Phil at the time. She’d never reached out to him, or even tried to. She did think of him often when she was away though. They had been close once, when he would sneak into her room and they’d dress him up and do his makeup and nails, whispering about boys. 

Maybe she should have tried harder with Klaus when he started to really get into the drugs.

Then Klaus was suddenly there, by her side. He looked _healthy_. She hadn’t realized how much better he was doing, did he look this great when she was here last? Or was she just now noticing? Noticing differences in Klaus was sometimes hard, as he would hide them, but surely he wouldn’t hide being so healthy? 

Fuck she needed to pay attention and spend more time with her brother. Too bad he and Phil were going out, otherwise she would propose a spa day or something.

“Allison!” He yelled happily at her, giving her a hug.

As they pulled away, she smiled, “Your eyeliner has never looked better.” 

It was true. She’d never seen it drawn on so steady before. She gave him another look up and down as he spun around to show off his outfit. He was wearing the boots he wore to their dad’s funeral, his trusty lace up leather pants and a sleeveless black jacket that seemed to just be made of long black fringe and tassels with gold chains hanging from shoulder to shoulder on the back. With no shirt, clearly showing off his many long necklaces, tattoos, and scars but thankfully she couldn’t count his ribs by just looking at him anymore.

“You look amazing, Klaus,” She said, meaning it. 

With a quick glance at Phil, Klaus leaned in to her, “Come with us? I know you have large sunglasses and hats to hide behind. We’ll go shopping and when Phil needs to sit down because shithead let himself get old, we can continue on.”

“Be glad you aren’t going with Cade then,” Phil didn’t seem bothered by being called a ‘shithead’, “that old fucker got himself a cane.”

Klaus rolled his eyes and grinned, “Last time Cade and I hit the town we both took those carts you can ride and had a race down the bread aisle. He knows how to have fun!” He stuck his tongue out.

Phil replied in the same.

“If you’re sure I won’t be imposing,” Allison glanced at Phil.

Waving his hand, Phil shook his head, “Please. The more the merrier.”

And so Allison found herself in the passenger seat of Phil’s car. Klaus was in the middle in the back seat. He said Ben and Dave were with them. Phil refused to go anywhere until Klaus buckled in and, “I don’t care if it messes with the lines of your outfit, Spook. Hell it doesn’t even really have any lines to fuck up, it’s just made of string.”

“It's called fashion, Phil. Back me up, Allie!” Klaus grasped at her shoulder.

“Well you do pull it off,” Allison had to concede. She didn’t know many people who could put that outfit on and manage to make it work.

They ended up at a nice little thrift store, the person working there waved at Klaus as if they knew him and they maybe did. He’d never been one to have much money on hand and thrift stores were in his price range (she could just hear Diego snorting and saying _that’s a nice way to explain that he was a homeless junkie_ ). Once they were maybe five feet into the store, Klaus seemed to be everywhere at once. He went down the aisles over and over, finding new things and gathering them in his arms. He’d say something to a ghost and then set stuff down where they weren't originally. He was a whirlwind to watch and thankfully the worker didn’t seem too bothered by it. 

Allison glanced at Phil, not sure how he would take Klaus’s shopping. He was always so easily distracted in stores, one of the reasons she didn’t often go with him. It wasn’t that she didn’t have fun with him when she did, but sometimes it was nice to shop with a friend who stayed by your side and you didn’t have to go searching for every five minutes because you needed their opinion on a cute little outfit.

Phil had sat down in a chair that was for sale next to the door nearly right away. Shrugging at her, he said, “I’ve been to markets with him before. Back in ‘Nam.”

“Really?” She was surprised. Maybe she shouldn’t be, the ten months Klaus was at war couldn’t have been just fighting. There was probably times when they got to towns that they could rest at. Thinking back, Phil once told her about a bar they’d all gone to. 

After about a half and hour of watching Klaus flit about the shop, he came up to them with his arms full of stuff. Setting it all down on a table he grabbed the first item. It was a toy doll. “I don’t know much about kids, but is this something Claire would like? If not, I have other stuff she my like.”

Allison felt her smile soften. They were shopping together for the first time in years (sure it was just a thrift shop but it wasn’t like Klaus could afford much) and not only had he picked out something for her daughter, but he wanted to show off immediately, even though they were shopping for Phil’s daughters. She was a little girl that Klaus had never met and had acted almost shy with when they spoke on the phone. He’d claimed he was worried about saying the wrong thing. 

She had also been worried he’d say the wrong thing.

“She would love that,” Allison reached out and touched his arm in a supportive way. She knew how touch helped her when she was going through the worst of her issues. And with Phil beside her talking about Vietnam, reminding her, Klaus maybe needed some reassurance. “What else did you find?”

His face lit up, “I told you!” He said in an aside to the air, “I know what little girls like. Shut up, just because I liked it when I was-- Ben! Rude!” Shaking his head he started to show Allison other things he found for Claire at the store. A few of the items Allison vetoed but he ended up with seven items he could get for Claire. 

“Okay, so. We’re done with Claire’s things,” Klaus nodded, looking at the pile at his feet of things to buy. “Now for my things!”

“Did you find anything for Jess or Nancy?” Phil asked, smile gracing his features. He seemed amused by his friend. Allison was glad that he wasn’t mad that Klaus wasn’t just in and out with his shopping. 

“Of course I did, Phil,” Klaus rolled his eyes, “You doubt me, _mein bruder_? But what I got them is the end of the fashion show, so calm down. Besides, look what I found,” He grabbed a pair of pants that were black with wide white pinstripes. 

“Jesus, Klaus,” Phil let out a loud laugh that surprised Allison, “Those look just like the pants you bought at the market. God I remember how you argued with the woman that they were for you and not your girlfriend.”

Klaus held them up to himself, “I’m sad that all my civvies got stuck in the past.” Looking at Allison, he added, “I had such nice clothes there. Bought new! Never been worn! Can you believe it!”

Allison’s heart broke that he was so excited to find clothes that had never been worn before. Once again, she was glad she was an actress so he couldn't see anything but her happiness for him, “Buy a lot of clothes, did you?”

“Me? Nah,” he flopped his _goodbye_ hand at her, “I got these doofuses to pay.” He pointed at Phil and the air next to him. Probably Dave.

“We took pity on him,” Phil said, voice teasing. “Didn’t want him to catch a cold when the only thing he brought with him was a bloody towel.”

“I made that look hot,” Klaus defended. “Dave agrees with me.”

“Dave is in love with you and so his opinion doesn’t count,” Phil countered.

Klaus’s hand went to lay over his heart as he pretended his legs were going to give out, “You say that like you don’t love me either! You wound me, Phil! As if the sight of my chest doesn’t send you into a frenzy of lust.”

“You caught me,” Phil’s voice was so dry Allison had to hold back a laugh, “It does indeed send me into a frenzy with lust. Sorry Dave, we must now fight over him. It’s a wonder we ever got a mission done in ‘Nam with how often you were shirtless.”

“Shirtless at war, Klaus?” Allison asked, “Why am I not surprised?”

Klaus still had a smile with good humor on his face when he said, “Yup, just me and the thin military vest I got. God, it’s such a bad green; a miracle I ever find things that look good with it.”

Allison knew she’d been doing better than others at remembering that Klaus was a Vietnam war veteran but she’d never really put too much thought into what that would be like. Shamed to say, she was picturing it more like war was now. Modern guns, modern intelligence, modern uniforms. 

With a kevlar vest.

Not a vest made of flimsy material. 

She’d seen the vest he was speaking of. That wouldn’t stop a bullet. And the helmets weren’t as good as they were now either. No amazing technology to help them see where the enemy was. Just some men, trying to survive as bullets impacted the ground around them.

Quickly glancing at Klaus’s chest, she properly ignored his necklaces and tattoos and saw the scars. Some of them were newer, obviously from the war. 

Oh god, Klaus could have died in the war.

Dave had, and he had been within five feet of Klaus when he did. 

She jumped when Klaus put a hand on her shoulder, “You okay, sis?”

Forcing a smile, Allison nodded, “Sorry. Just got light headed. Haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“Oh!” Klaus’s hand tightened for a second before he raised both of them as if he had a great idea, “Let’s stop this show and tell, I’ll buy all of this and then we’ll go have brunch!” He gave her an appraising look, “Phil and I know a good diner that will perk you right up.” 

Phil and Allison watched as he gathered up all his items and headed towards the cash register, appearing to surprise the worker that he was going to pay. She may have heard him say: Right! I’m not homeless anymore and can actually pay for stuff, _can you believe?_

She jumped when Phil put a hand where Klaus’s had been, “You sure you’re okay?”

She hide her face in her hands, “I just realized that he-- that none of you, had any real protection in the war.”

“You realized how you might’ve lost him,” Phil nodded, being as understanding as he usually was. “But we had protection. We protected each other. You always looked out for your fellow soldier.”

She smiled at him, “Thank you. And thank you for continuing to look out for your fellow soldier.” She wiped at her eyes, hoping to not let her makeup smear. She didn’t need Klaus asking why she’d been crying. 

“It’s my pleasure,” Phil reached out and gave her a quick hug. “Thank you for coming with us today. Believe it or not, he is very happy that you joined us. He’s missed you.”

She looked up and saw Klaus leaning in to tell the worker something else, probably that his famous sister was with him today. “I’ve missed him.”


	3. Diego

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i found this hard to write? i feel like i didn't get diego down right but w/e its getting posted. also thanks to my babe sam for always fixing my easier to spot mistakes (usually telling me to add or remove a comma)

Diego was mad. He was pissed off. He was ready to find someone doing a crime so he could beat the shit out of them and calm down. 

Yet.

Diego was also glad. He was relieved. He was ready to manhandle Klaus into a hug and never let go.

Earlier in the night Diego had decided to do some ass kicking.

The last time he’d gone out and disbursed justice he had Luther with him. It had gone pretty well. He was honestly surprised at how well they got along as they saved people. Luther was a lot more welcoming to listening to his ideas and he even let Diego take the lead. He’d claimed it was because Diego knew the ins and outs of the vigilante thing. Diego had been surprised and humbled by Luther that night.

But tonight he had run into Klaus. 

“ _I’m sorry_ ,” Klaus slurred slightly to the air beside him as Diego held onto his shoulders, guiding him down the alley. “I know, I’m a fuck up and-- _sorry_ I didn’t mean-- would you just let me-- Dave, stop being so fucking understanding!”

“Hold on,” Diego stopped them from moving, “there’s some broken glass here.” He pulled on Klaus’s shoulers, tugging him out of the way. “You’ve got bare feet.”

“Do I?” Klaus looked down, “So I do.”

Diego wasn’t sure what had set Klaus off. All he knew was that Klaus wasn’t high. He was drunk, sure. But he wasn’t high. He’d been on his way to fucking himself up, wanting to get high.

Thankfully Diego ran into him before he found his dealer. 

But Diego was glad that Dave was around. That he hadn’t let Klaus deal with _whatever_ on his own. Diego should probably ask what was wrong. Because something _must_ have happened. And if Diego wanted to protect Klaus (of course he wanted to protect Klaus) he would need to know what the trigger was. 

“Want to talk about it?” That was a good opening. If Klaus didn’t want to talk to Diego about it he had plenty of other people to talk with. Any of their siblings or his war buddies. Alive or dead. But at least this way Klaus knew he could go to Diego. That he would be there for Klaus.

For real this time. 

Over the years, he’d gotten tired of dealing with Klaus. Oh, he was always there for him if he needed him, but he stopped being as supportive, as nice, as understanding. Not that he ever really understood. But he tried to not be too mean about it. Treating junkies like criminals was no way to help them. He knew that. 

But sometimes it was hard.

After Klaus stole from him over and over, and broke promises over and over, and showed up at his apartment covered in blood and bruises over and over.

“ _Diego_ ,” Klaus crooned out, leaning into him, “I’m not in the mood. _That’s what she said!_ ” He giggled at his own joke.

“You sure?” Diego pressed, “Because whatever happened--”

“Nothing happened!” Klaus protested, stomping his foot, “This is just the way I am! Shut up Dave! I don’t--” He sighed and slumped his head as Diego finally got them on the main street. “Fucking fine! We’ll try it your way!” 

Klaus cleared his throat, looking down at his feet he said, “I had a flashback.” Shrugging, in a low voice he added, “That’s all. Flashback to ‘Nam? And suddenly I’ve helped myself to daddy’s whiskey. _Useless._ ”

Diego had been in favor of them getting rid of all that when Klaus started to be serious about getting sober. But he lived with Luther (finally started to try drinking and relaxing) and Five (an alcoholic). The booze had stayed in the house. 

“And then I’m already off the wagon so why trip when you can _fall_ ,” Klaus gestured to the air beside him. “Yeah, you get it.” He nodded sagely.

It said something that Klaus was still seeing Dave while drunk.

He really hoped that this meant he wouldn’t be drunk more often, knowing that it didn’t make Dave disappear.

Fuck Diego just wanted Klaus sober and happy.

“It’s okay, Klaus,” Diego tried, “It’s okay that you relapsed. And it’s okay that you had a flashback. You are okay, and we are all here to help you when you trip or when you fall.”

“Oh fuck you both,” Klaus has a hint of a smile on his face. 

Diego pulled Klaus a little closer to him, still keeping his arms around Klaus’s shoulders and leading them back towards the Academy. They needed to get him home, maybe in a bath. And possibly Diego could finally talk Luther and Five into getting rid of all the alcohol in the house. Now they will see how dangerous and stupid it was to keep it around Klaus.

Diego wasn’t sure how to support a veteran coming home, he knew the basics but it was always the little things that you overlooked that mattered the most (Luther told him about the bed situation in a quiet voice over the phone the other day). But he had a better idea about how you help recovering addicts. Not only had he learned a little bit at the police academy but he’d put research into it over the years. Especially when he thought he could help Klaus get clean and off the streets. He’d tried to explain that to Luther and Five, how to help but they were also victims of abuse and trauma. They all were. Diego wasn’t going to deny it, he had his own issues he was working on.

Fuck Sir Reginald Hargreeves. 

“Oh hey,” a stranger stopped them, “it’s you.”

Diego was ready to escort Klaus around this guy, especially if it was someone from his past. The guy looked vaguely familiar. Could be a dealer, or one of Klaus’s exes. Hopefully not an abusive one. 

God, how often those times Klaus showed up bloody and bruised was because of a boyfriend.

Diego often would find those exes. _(“Don’t worry, Di. I always leave after they hit me the first time. Had enough abuse in my life, I’m not about to put up with it ever. I don’t care if they claim it won’t happen again.”)_

Klaus looked at the guy with glassy eyes, “Mean vet from the bar?’”

 _Mean vet from the bar?_ Diego looked the guy up and down, realizing. This was the guy who started the bar fight. The vet who didn’t believe that Klaus had been a veteran also. Dickwad.

“Yeah, it's me. Again, I’m sorry for how I treated you that day,” The Asshole said. 

Klaus waved his hand back and forth, “No worries, my dude. You already apologized.”

“What? When?” Diego asked. It had better have been a good apology. Groveling involved. He’d make this dude grovel.

“With Phil,” Klaus answered, “Phil had a little talk with him before my party.”

That’s good enough for Diego. He’d seen how Phil protected Klaus. He’s been on the receiving side of a lecture from Phil before. If Phil had already had a “talk” with the douchebag then Diego didn’t need to have his own. 

“You okay, friend?” The Dick looked Klaus up and down.

“‘M fine,” Klaus frowned.

“Sure,” Bitchy Vet gave Klaus a scrutinizing look. It wouldn’t be too strange to see someone drunk at this time of day, but he seemed to understand something had happened. “Listen, after our run in I started going to a group for vets again. Helped me realize how much of an ass I was to you and it's helped me deal with some stuff I was ignoring. You should maybe come? It could help you too.”

“Oh, I already have a group,” Klaus lied believably.

Diego narrowed his eyes at how easily that lie came. He knew Klaus was used to lying about things (especially if they mattered) but it made him wary of what else Klaus could have been lying to them (him) about.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” The Fucker nodded, “Well then, I’ll let you-- Yeah.” He nodded again and then started walking away with a wave.

A bit awkward, but Diego was glad to see him leave.

Diego eyed Klaus, “Why’d you lie? A group for vets? Sounds like it might help.” After all, he had gotten drunk and started looking for drugs because of a flashback. He just wanted Klaus to start to heal from his time at war. To properly heal. He knew that Phil, Cade, and Dave were all helping, but maybe Klaus needed a bigger support group of other people who understood.

“Can’t go,” Klaus shrugged.

“Why not?” Diego stopped them and made eye contact with Klaus. This was obviously important. The whole night had been important but this was him passing up someone’s help.

Klaus laughed hollowly, “What am I going to do when they ask where I served?”

Diego froze. God, Klaus wouldn’t be able to tell strangers during a support meeting that he’d been to Vietnam. They would understand somewhat, but the war Klaus went to was very different than any that they had been in. And he’d have to explain the time travel, possibly getting into the torture he’d gone into before falling through time. The chance of them believing him, the chance of them not realizing he was a Hargreeves of the Umbrella Academy? 

Slim. 

Slim to none.

Fuck.

 _“K-Klaus,”_ Diego noted his stutter coming through. He pulled his brother into a tight hug before quickly ending it and acting like he’d never hugged him.

Klaus was smiling so warmly at him. “Aw, you do care!” He threw his arms in the air before forcing another hug. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” he whispered in Diego’s ear. 

They started back down the street, but before they took more than three steps, Klaus let out a loud laugh, “Dave said he doesn't make the same promise. _He’s gonna tell everyone that you care._ Poor Diego, a ghost spilling all of his secrets.”

Diego rolled his eyes with a fond smile on his face when he saw Klaus’s shit eating grin.


	4. Five

It was odd, being back at the Academy. Not that Five’s life had ever not been _odd_ but since the not end of the world it's just been a little too confusing for him.

On the one hand, he was nearly sixty years old. He’d lived a decently long life, learned a lot over the years. He still had Delores to lean on when he needed someone to talk to. His only job was working for the Commision and he had _retired early_ from them. He hoped they wouldn’t keep bothering him for quitting (and killing) the job. 

On the other hand, he was in a thirteen year old body. Fourteen before too long. He had his whole life ahead of him, he could go to university if he wanted. He had his siblings around to talk to when he needed it. His siblings who were in their thirties and grew up without him there to help them and protect them from their father. And while the Commision was his only paying job, he had the Umbrella Academy to thank for some _unpaid internship_ experience which helped him know the ins and outs of what he did for the Commision (the killing).

And the Umbrella Academy was back at it. Sort of. Luther thought that if there was a crisis they could help step in, but only if the law enforcement asked them first. No more would they rush to the kidnapping or museum to stop (kill) the bad guys. 

Which was how they found themselves at another bank heist. Not that the full Academy was there to answer the call. Allison was in California that week and Vanya had an appointment with a student. And Diego had been across town so he was going to be late. So it was just the three (four if you included Ben) who lived in the (now almost alcohol free) mansion who could make it in time to do any good.

Though if they needed backup Diego would work. Whenever he showed up.

Luther had tried to put Klaus on lookout like usual but Klaus looked him dead in the eyes and said that they couldn’t spare him like that, then said that Ben volunteered to be lookout. So the three of them walked in.

God, they must have been a sight. A man whose shoulders were almost as wide as he was tall, a gangly thin man in a romper, and a thirteen year old school boy.

And really, Five could have taken them all on by himself. He’d fought more people at once when he retired from the Commision. But he also didn’t want to actually kill these robbers. Just knock them out, which was a bit harder to do. It was easier to just shoot everyone or appear behind them and snap their neck. 

Five looked around after he got a gun from a robber before hitting him across the face with it, sending him sprawling backwards.

Luther was doing his thing, knocking people back and sending them flying. Hopefully they weren’t dead when they landed. Just concussed. So he was doing fine. Five didn’t need to jump over there and help.

Klaus was surprisingly holding his own. The gangly man almost looked like he was dancing when he defended himself. It wasn’t exactly a dance, but it was graceful in a way he didn’t expect from Klaus. Klaus was never graceful, even since he’d been sober. He always tripped over nothing or swayed out of the way from the ghosts that he saw. But here he didn’t seem to stumble or be caught up in his thoughts. Either he was very focused on the task at hand or he was basically mentally checked out and let his training take over.

He had survived ten months in the jungle after all.

Five watched as Klaus disarmed one of them, and without hesitation, shot the man in the foot before shooting a pillar (ghost?) and then a second guy in the knee, sending him down. Five stopped moving, as did Luther, at the gunshots.

Klaus took the rest of the men out with a practiced ease, always going for the foot or knee, the hand if they reached for their gun. Never the kill. Whenever he shot at a person he didn’t miss the mark, but he kept shooting air once in a while.

Whenever he shot the air Five saw Klaus mutter something to himself.

Before Diego could show up, all the men where on the ground, bleeding and yelling at them. Luther had started to collect the guns from the fallen.

Once the last one was taken care of, Klaus had narrowed his eyes for a second, trying to make sure it was only ghosts left probably. Nodding to himself, he then disassembled his gun, letting it fall at his feet.

After the gun was safely and quickly dismantled Five noticed that Klaus’s hands were shaking.

“Clean this up, I’ve got him,” Five shot to Luther before jumping beside Klaus.

Five swallowed the guilt at making Klaus jump when he appeared next to him. “Klaus?” Five kept his voice light. 

“Yeah, Five?” Klaus’s voice was fairly steady. Thank god. That was a good sign.

“Want me to jump us out of the room? Back to the Academy? Luther and Diego can make sure everything goes smoothly,” he gently put a hand on his brother.

To Klaus’s credit, he did seem to put some thought into his answer, “Just the next room over, maybe? There’s just a lot of blood in here.”

Five nodded and jumped them to one of the side offices. Klaus leaned heavily against the desk and took deep breaths. He seemed like he was pulling himself together on his own. How often did he do that? How many flashbacks and panic attacks did Klaus end up dealing with by himself because Five was too busy getting drunk with Delores? 

Fuck, Five should’ve known better. He was double Klaus’s age and knew about PTSD. Not only had he read books about it but he had his own issues he dealt with. But he had just let some stranger take over his job as the older brother. Sure, Phil was nice and obviously cared for Klaus but Five should be the one forcing Klaus to watch Ellen (Phil forced Five to watch when he noticed that Five was having a Bad Day). 

And while Five had never been in a war, he’d been to wars. He’d seen what the battlefields were like. He’d had a few jobs during the Vietnam war too. There was a chance that he’d been fairly close to Klaus when he did his job. 

Klaus was a soldier now. Today was evidence of that. Evidence that Five could no longer ignore. And fuck, Five really wished he was better at empathy because he wanted to help his brother right now. There had been times recently when Klaus had helped Five, knowing what to do or say to help Five with his own problems. And yet Five couldn’t do the same for Klaus?

He could imagine Delores calling him an idiot.

“And here I thought you said Phil was the sharp shooter,” Five tried.

Klaus let out a laugh, “Guess who taught me. I never got that title because half the time I ‘missed’ my mark. In the heat of it all it's hard to tell when its a ghost. Assuming I wasn’t high on something.”

“During the war?” Five thought that sounded stupid, “Sounds stupid.”

Klaus snorted, “Oh baby, you have no idea how easy it was to get fucked up in ‘Nam.”

The tremble in his hands had lessened. Five nodded to himself, “You did good today. I am actually impressed with your abilities. Logically I knew you knew how to fight but--” He shrugged.

“Its different seeing it,” Klaus nodded. “I get it. And if we have the full team, I’m still okay being the lookout, to be honest. Fighting off flashbacks is not fun.”

Five sighed, “No. It’s not.” He knew that. He had to fight off his own flashback when he saw a burnt down building, woke up in the middle of a night when it was silent (having Klaus in the house always making noise was very helpful), or even sometimes when he heard his mom’s or Klaus’s heels on the floor clacking like that bitch’s would.

Luther ended up poking his head in the room, “Everything okay in here?”

Five glanced at Klaus. He looked like he had pulled himself together, “Yes. We’re both doing better.”

Luther looked them both up and down then, apparently noting the ‘we’ that Five said. A slip up that he shouldn’t have said. Shouldn’t have suggested to Luther that he also was having trouble. Knowing Luther he’d suggest they both be benched next time. 

“I’m Number One so I’ll deal with the press, you both can go ahead and leave. No need to have you both be over stimulated,” Luther sounded hesitant with the last sentence, like he wasn’t sure if that was an issue or not. “The three of us made a good team. You both did good. Uh, yeah, _good_. Okay, see you at the Academy.” With that he turned and left the room.

Klaus laughed into his hands, “Oh god he’s so awkward.”

“He’s going to try and bench us,” Five murmured. 

“Nah,” Klaus waved his hand to where Luther had been standing a moment before, “he’s stupidly proud of us.” He eyed the air next to him, “Ben is stupidly proud of us. Ugh, there’s so much pride in this room we almost don’t have room for your ego, darling.”

“Shut up.” He gently shoved Klaus trying to hide a smile.

After Klaus got done laughing, they headed home.


	5. Vanya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait! hope you like it anyway.

Allison got the idea from Phil. After Phil mentioned that Klaus came to his family dinners she thought that would be good for her family. They should start having a meal about once a week where, as long as you weren’t out of state, you were expected to show. And if someone was out of reach, they would try to video chat with them just after everyone ate so it was like they were still there that night.

Vanya was the one who suggested they take turns making the food. She was feeling bad that their mom would always cook for them. They were adults, they could cook too. She wasn’t the best cook herself, she could make a decent pasta, and she wasn’t sure if her siblings could cook but they shouldn’t have to rely on their mom. 

It had been going pretty good. They’d been doing it for a few weeks, and she had made pasta the previous week. Everyone said they liked it, and Luther and Diego had fought over the last of it (she didn’t realize how much Luther ate and didn’t make enough). Even though she usually didn’t like it when her siblings fought, this had felt good. They were fighting over her, over something she made. She had shared a smile with Allison. 

It made her feel special.

She was still working on that. She didn’t go to crowded areas by herself anymore. Since she found out about her powers she, with the help of her doctor, slowly lowered the dosage of her medicine. She was almost off it now and her powers were not as strong as they would be, but they were still there. And they’d all found out that if there was a lot of noise around she sometimes had trouble keeping it under control. Thankfully any of her siblings were able to keep her calm in public. 

So she went out less. 

Well.

Maybe not less. She’d never gone out a lot, just now she had someone with her when she went to and from work or home and the academy. 

She often found herself going with Klaus. Sometimes Phil or Cade joined them. But Klaus didn’t have a job and no other commitments. And since he was now sober he needed more distractions. She liked to think that him babysitting her was just as good for him as it was for her. Helped give him a purpose, something to do. 

That also made her feel special.

Usually it was her searching Klaus out so that they could go somewhere but as she sat in the library his face came around the corner of the door, as if he was peeking in to see she was there first. She watched as he said an aside to someone and then he leaned heavily into the doorway, his hand on the doorframe the only thing keeping him standing. 

“Van, want to join me in getting groceries for tonight?” Klaus was acting like it wasn’t a big deal and he would be doing her a favor. 

But she really looked at him. His nail polish looked chipped (which it hadn’t been an hour ago) so he’d been chewing or picking at them, his eyes were a little bloodshot, and he seemed to be trying too hard to look casual.

Putting a bookmark in the book she was reading, she nodded, “Let's go put our shoes on.”

Klaus looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes, “Yeah, alright.”

She had thought they’d be going to the grocery store. After all, that’s what they were getting right? Groceries so he could cook at their family meal tonight? But he was leading them in a different direction. 

“Anyone with us?’ Vanya asked, keeping pace with him (mostly because he meandered when he wasn’t thinking and when he was he kept his pace so slow she wondered if he didn’t want to go wherever they were going). 

Clearing his throat, Klaus looked beside him, “Dave’s here. He’s going to make sure I get everything for tonight.” 

“Is it his family recipe or something?” That would make sense. He’d need Dave there for his input if it was his grandma’s dish. Vanya idly wondered what it would be like to have family recipes, passed down through generations.

“Nah,” Klaus wave his hand with fake cheer (his hand was trembling slightly). “I really only know how to make a few things, living on the streets does nothing to help your homemaking skills. I learned a few things in ‘Nam. Dave and me, we learned a few things from the locals. Easy things to make, y’know?” 

He was leaning on her for help. He came to her to help center him as he went and got food that made him think of the war. Sure, maybe he only went to her because she was the only one around, but maybe, _just maybe_ he wanted _her_ to be the one to help him. 

She felt a surge of-- pride? Happiness? Confidence? Because she was the one with him now, even if she was his last choice.

But she knew he was worried and was replaying the worst of his memories. “That must have been fun, learning to cook with Dave by your side,” she smiled at him. “Like a couples cooking class?”

His shoulders relaxed, “Yeah, it was. God, he made fun of me so much when I almost set fire to-- never mind. I never almost burnt down a building when I cooked. Forget I said that, you’re just dreaming, Vanya.”

She giggled, “It wouldn't be the first time the house caught fire. It wouldn’t even be the first time _you_ caught it on fire.”

“ _What? No?_ Dave don’t listen to her! She’s exaggerating!” Klaus sent her a ‘help me out of this mess’ look.

She grinned mischievously, “Pogo stopped giving him homework like the rest of us, he had to do his orally because he kept burning it." 

He let out a gasp and threw his hand over his heart, “Lies and slander!” He then let out a laugh and smiled along with her.

Good.

She made him laugh and relax. 

She must be doing something right. Vanya was still struggling with her own feelings, let alone helping others with theirs, but helping Klaus usually came easy for her. Possibly because he was in the same boat at her. They’d had chats about how their respective drugs had numbed them and that feelings were hard and overwhelming. 

They understood each other some. 

She’d never known that before, how much they had in common. And it made her regret her chapter on him more than ever. He didn’t deserve what she wrote about him, none of them did, but especially Klaus. 

They finally made it to a part of the city she’d never been in. It looked like an asian market. Which made sense as they were going to make a vietnamese dish. There were a lot of people there and a lot of languages she didn’t know. It was _a lot_. And if it was a lot for her, it was also probably a lot for Klaus.

She grabbed his hand.

He held on tight and sent her a small smile. 

Eventually Dave must have pointed something out to Klaus because he said, “Oh, alright. This way, Van.” And then lead them down a small path towards a different part of the market. 

When they stopped there was a kind looking older lady at a stand who said in a very thick accent, “Welcome. We take American money.”

And then Klaus said something in vietnamese. Whatever he said was fast and as far as she knew, perfect. The older woman’s eyes lit up and she smiled slowly and happily.

Vanya then watched as they had a conversation, Klaus only once in a while pausing to think of a word. It was beautiful to watch. She knew her brother wasn’t dumb, but she hadn’t realized how smart he was. He had learned a language enough in the ten months he was at war to have a conversation with the market lady. She doubted she could do that. 

Even though she didn’t know what was being said, she felt a grin take over her face when Klaus said something funny enough to send the woman in one of the most happiest laughs Vanya had ever heard. 

Then the two of them started packing up food in bags, Klaus still keeping a conversation with the woman. 

Vanya knew this lady would remember Klaus for a while, maybe the rest of her life she’d think back to the day a skinny white boy who told her jokes and made her feel special in her native tongue. He gifted the woman today with that memory and he probably thought nothing of how she’d go home and tell her family about him. 

She hoped Klaus learned the language from kind locals and not the ghosts that probably hounded him while he was at war.

That sounded awful.

Vanya could tell the conversation was winding down and she watched as Klaus handed over the money before giving Vanya some bags to carry. As they turned away, Klaus said some kind words to the woman as a farewell, holding up his ‘goodbye’ hand.

Vanya and Klaus both had two bags each. “I see you asked me to come just to be a pack horse,” she nudged his arm with her shoulder.

“Damn, you saw through the ruse,” he smiled at her, still in a good mood.

“I hadn’t realized you were so fluent in vietnamese, Klaus. I knew you know a bit of german or french,” she let the sentence hang there between them. He could respond if he wanted. 

“I actually know some of a number of languages. Mostly ‘help me’,” he shrugged. “Reggie did for a bit try and teach me key phrases in other languages because he figured not all ghosts would speak english. Bastard was right on that.”

“Can you teach me some of what you know?” Vanya asked before really thinking through the question.

He full turned towards her, “Really? Why?”

She shrugged, “I’ve always wanted to learn another language. I mean, music could be considered another language, but its not the same. I couldn’t have a conversation with anyone in it. And who better to teach me than my brother?” She also wanted a reason to hang out with her brother more.

He narrowed his eyes for a second, thinking about his answer, maybe listening to what Dave was saying and suggesting, “Yeah okay.”

“Okay?” she repeated.

“If you teach me how to read music,” he nodded, sure of himself. 

“Sounds like a deal,” Vanya smiled before they continued back to the house.

That night Klaus made a very tasty veitmeninse meal that the boys fought over like they had with her pasta, only Klaus had made enough because he revealed more food when they started arguing. 

She was proud of him.


	6. Ben

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here is the last chapter! i hope you liked this fic, and give thanks to siriuspiggyback for the prompt. i have one more fic lined up for this series before i'm out of ideas and prompts. i have more tua fic ideas, but not for this series. not saying that the series will for sure be over but i just currently have one more fic idea that needs written (i have started it so that's promising). as always thanks for sam for the beta. you're the best babe.

They were having a fourth of July party. They all invited a few of their friends, if they had any to invite. Which was what really broke Ben’s heart when Luther had no one to ask. All the others had at least one person who showed up, but not Luther. It was just so heartbreaking. Ben wished he could have been Luther’s plus one. 

If anyone, he was there with Klaus.

Klaus who had the party _packed_. 

Phil hadn’t shown up, he was with his family, but Cade had. Out of the living, Cade was the only one who came.

Out of the dead?

“Jeeze, Klaus was popular, huh?” Ben asked Dave.

Dave chuckled, “He made an impression on a lot of the guys during those ten months.”

Ben had met a few of the 173rd over the passed couple months. Most didn’t hang out long with Klaus, appearing once in a while to check in on him but they all seemed to know how taxing it was on Klaus to see his friends dead. 

And overall they were still with it. They weren’t the mindless ghouls of Klaus’s nightmares. 

Thank god.

As much as Ben didn’t want to be jealous _(he was the nice ghost, the ghost that was always there for Klaus, the ghost that helped Klaus deal with the others)_ it was hard to not feel a tug of envy when a mountain of a man appeared and Klaus’s face lit up, “Sergio!”

Sergio looked like he would be someone you wanted to cross to the other side of the street instead of walking passed but when he first appeared he looked shy and taken aback. But he looked as happy to see Klaus as Klaus was to see him.

“Huh,” Dave nodded, “Sergie’s here. He died back in ‘Nam.”

“Didn’t think you’d see him again?” Ben asked.

“After we found out about Klaus you never knew who you’d hear from again,” Dave answered, “but after he passed Klaus never mentioned him hanging about so I thought he’d moved on.”

“Klaus seems happy to see him,” Ben said. 

There must have been a tone in his voice because Dave’s smile was reassuring, “Don’t worry, you know you’re his favorite. You’ve been with him for about a decade, Ben. Nothing could come between you two.”

Ben gave Dave a look.

“I’m not coming between you two,” Dave protested. “You are siblings and you haven’t ever left his side. You’ve always been there for him, he knows that.” Dave paused, looking like he was debating adding something before saying, “You have no idea how much the guys and I heard about you in ‘Nam.”

Ben didn’t want to get into his _feelings_ with Dave. About how _Dave_ was the one who was the reason Klaus quit drugs, even though Ben had _asked and asked and asked_ him to quit over the years. But then Klaus made eye contact with Ben and waved him over.

Smiling slightly, he made his way to Klaus and Sergio.

“Serge, this is Ben!” Klaus happily introduced them.

Sergio looked down at Ben with what could almost be awe on his face, “Nice to meet you.” His voice was quiet, with a slight impediment. When he grinned at Ben he saw he was missing some teeth. 

“Nice to meet you too,” Ben replied.

It was true that whenever Ben met a member of the 173rd they were always happy to meet him. As if he was the celebrity and not Allison. 

When Diego showed up and threw an arm around Klaus, right through Sergio, the man stepped back and gave a small shy wave to Klaus before joining a group of his squadmates. 

“Not a big turn out, but not bad,” Diego commented, looking across the backyard.

Ben and Klaus both looked across the party, seeing the living, the dead war buddies, and a few of the more typical ghosts howling in the crowd. 

“Tell him it's packed, tell him you’ve got a lot of friends visiting,” Ben suggested.

“Who knew you had any friends to invite, Di,” Klaus ignored Ben’s suggestion as per usual and elbowed Diego. “You got two of them to show up! Mr. Popular over here.”

“Well you’ve got, what? Three? Cade, Dave and some dude named Sergio?” Diego commented. 

“Excuse me, why did he not count me?” Ben asked, affronted.

“Yeah! Exactly! Why didn’t you include Ben? Rude!” Klaus agreed with him. 

Diego rolled his eyes, “He’s all of our brother, just because you’re the only one who can see him doesn’t mean he counts as your invite.”

Ben found himself smiling at that. It was nice, knowing that Diego didn’t count him as _Klaus’s _but that he was _their’s_. For years it was just him and Klaus, and Ben felt like he was Klaus’s plus one to everything. Whenever Klaus would mention Ben, before he was sober, they had to watch their siblings not believe Klaus. Not believe in Ben. Hell, strangers had been nicer to Klaus about his ‘imaginary friend’ than his family was. So to hear that Diego said that Ben was _their’s_? It meant so much to him.__

__It meant that he counted._ _

__And Diego would never know how such a simple statement of inclusion would mean to Ben._ _

__Klaus smiled at Ben, knowing what was going through his head. After a decade of just the two of them it didn’t take much for them to know what the other was thinking. “Aw, that’s real sweet of you, Di.”_ _

__“What? No. It’s not sweet,” Diego argued. “It’s just fact.”_ _

__“Tell him we can keep his secret,” Ben suggested with a grin._ _

__“Oh yeah! For sure! Don’t worry, bro. We can keep the secret of your gumdrop heart. No one but the three of us will know,” Klaus was having trouble keeping a straight face._ _

__“What’s this about a secret?” Dave asked, walking up and trying to put an arm around Klaus before remembering himself. Ben gave Dave a sad smile at that. He knew that Dave was still having trouble with not being able to touch. Once in a while they could, but usually he was still ghostly. Dave had told Ben once that it wasn’t that hard, they had tried to keep their PDA down during the war, but even the casual touches were hard to stop._ _

__“Oh, just that Diego has a heart made of sugar plums,” Klaus snickered._ _

__“So much for the secret kept between the three of us,” Diego rolled his eyes, “That Sergio you were just talking to knows now too, huh?”_ _

__“Nah, you walked through him and he skedaddled,” Klaus said as Diego flinched at the idea of walking through a ghost. Ben wondered if Diego knew how often he walked through ghosts. Especially at the party. “It’s just Dave. But he already knew that you cared.”_ _

__“Nah, I had no idea,” Dave’s voice was so dry Ben couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought he was heartless.”_ _

__“Oh of course,” Klaus nodded. When Diego glared at him, he added, “He had already told Ben about this secret. Remember? When you found me after I had some fun self destructing? No secrets kept from ghosts. I got all the hot gossip.” He winked._ _

__Dave had frowned at the way Klaus spoke about himself, which was normal whenever Klaus said something like that, “Klaus--”_ _

__Klaus waved Dave off._ _

__Ben rolled his eyes at the two of them, “Hot gossip, Klaus?”_ _

__“Sure,” Klaus shrugged._ _

__Diego’s eyes were going from Klaus to where Ben and Dave were, question on his face. He wasn’t following the conversation, which made sense as he only heard Klaus’s side. Ben was used to people giving Klaus similar looks, but Dave and was still getting used to it. Ben had been trying to help Dave as much as he was trying to help Klaus now._ _

__Diego rolled his eyes, “Whatever, I’m going somewhere that I can hear the whole conversation.” And then he wandered over to his friends._ _

__The party continued for a while, Ben sticking pretty close to Klaus as per usual, but sometimes he found himself with some of the 173rd and swapping stories with them. He learned a bit more of what Klaus was like during the war and he shared some of the more fun times with them._ _

__And then, as it was getting darker, some neighbor set off some fireworks. A number of 173rd had left by then, deciding to go see their families or do whatever they did when they weren’t around Klaus. The few who were still around looked up and smiled at the fireworks. (Cade had left earlier in the afternoon, he didn’t do well driving in the dark.)_ _

__But Vanya had let out a loud gasp that caught the attention of most of Ben’s siblings. The loud noise caught her off guard and she was still getting the hang of her powers. Allison rushed to her side and started calming her down while the others watched a bit away, worry for their sister on their face._ _

__But Klaus wasn’t there._ _

__Ben felt panic deep in him. Sergio called out a _”He’s here!”_ and led the rest of the 173rd to where Klaus had curled up on himself, under a table near the wall. Ben rushed to the group. Much like his siblings were doing, most stood back and watched as Dave tried to calm Klaus down._ _

__But the fireworks weren’t stopping. They were picking up in pace._ _

__Ben went to the front of the group, “Let me.” He tried to keep his voice from wavering in worry, “None of you are helping right now. Dave, sorry but your voice isn’t helping to stay here and not fall back to Vietnam.”_ _

__Dave swallowed and nodded. The look of regret and pain on his face almost halted Ben in his tracks. Almost. But Klaus was more important than Dave’s feelings on the matter. Ben sat down next to Klaus and started talking calmly to him, telling him to focus on his voice, “I wasn’t at war with you, so you know you aren’t there, right? Can’t be, it’s Benny Boy who is by your side. At home, safe.” He reached out, hoping that he could touch Klaus._ _

__He made contact. It was weak, but it was there. Rubbing on Klaus’s back, he kept up a stream of consciousness. Dave was pacing back and forth, casting worried looks at his boyfriend while the rest of the 173rd had backed off farther. They were all trusting Ben to save their friend. It was reassuring that they all trusted him to help Klaus even though he’d only met most of them once or twice._ _

__Eventually Klaus started to come back to himself, “Ben?”_ _

__“Hey there, bro. You want to go inside?” Ben asked, figuring that going inside and turning on music would help with the noise._ _

__“Please,” Klaus nodded, voice quiet and shaking._ _

__“Okay, if you don’t think you can make it on your own, you have to get the attention of someone else. I’m not solid enough to help you,” Ben hated having to say that, but it was true. “The others are helping Vanya calm down.”_ _

__Klaus paused thinking, “Can you ask them? Try to ask? I don’t--” he flinched as another firework went off._ _

__Ben thought of the time Luther heard him, when Klaus was asleep. And he was sort of solid at the moment, so hopefully someone would be able to hear him. Nodding, Ben got up and walked over to his siblings. Vanya had calmed down considerably. They were doing great with her._ _

__“Hey!” Ben yelled, hoping _someone_ would hear him, “Hey assholes! Anyone!”_ _

__Five looked up sharply, “Ben?”_ _

__“Klaus needs help!” Ben hoped his voice wasn’t cutting out._ _

__Five looked around, eyes narrowed, “Where is he?”_ _

__“Five?” Luther asked, him and Diego giving him questioning looks._ _

__“Corner, under the table!” Ben was relieved that this was working, even if only Five could hear him._ _

__“It’s Klaus,” Five said, heading over to where Ben directed him. Five made the other’s stay near Vanya, “We don’t want to crowd him.”_ _

__As they walked over together, Five said, “I should’ve thought. War vets and fireworks don’t usually mix. Should’ve thought of him and not just Vanya.”_ _

__“Don’t worry, you’re here now,” Ben said but it seemed like Five could no longer hear him._ _

__Klaus still seemed to be with them and not caught in a flashback when they arrived, but he was shaking and having trouble breathing._ _

__“Shit,” Five said, bending down to Klaus’s level. “Sorry, Klaus.”_ _

__“It’s fine,” Klaus said, voice still small. “Can we go inside now?”_ _

__“Of course.” Five grabbed him, “I’ll jump us, okay?” He waited for Klaus’s nod before the blue light took them._ _

__Ben sighed and shared a worried look with Dave. The rest of the 173rd were worried, but not having their own flashbacks. Chances were in the fifty years since the war helped them cope with fireworks, Klaus had had only a couple months._ _

__Ben saw the rest of his family heading inside too; Diego checking to make sure the grill was turned off and any candles were out before going in. The friends visiting following Diego, talking about heading home so the family could be together._ _

__“Bit of a downer for the end of the party, huh?” Ben asked, voice still tight._ _

__Dave looked across the backyard, “Let’s go check on our boy.”_ _

__They both headed up to Klaus’s room, where Five had turned on a CD and tried his best to keep Klaus calm whenever a firework went off. “Want me to find out who's doing it and kill them?”_ _

__“Sure,” Ben said, walking into the room._ _

__“Why not?” Dave asked._ _

__Neither of them really meant it._ _

__Klaus smiled at them, “Census says no. Murder isn’t always the answer, Five.”_ _

__“But it really simplifies things,” Five joked lightly. He glanced around the room, eyes not pausing on Ben nor Dave. “They’re here?”_ _

__“Yeah,” Klaus replied._ _

__“You okay if I go check on Vanya?” Five asked, looking like he was fighting with his emotions._ _

__Klaus waved his hand, “Go on. We don’t want her to explode anything.” He was always too understanding, never asking for help when he really needed it._ _

__Five nodded, “I’ll be back to check on you soon.”_ _

__Klaus rolled his eyes, “Whatever, old man.”_ _

__That left the three of them in the room, Ben was trying to not look worried, not wanting Klaus to spiral in his thoughts, “You did good today, Klaus.” Ben sat down next to him. Dave leaned against the wall, probably hoping that staying out of sight would make it easier for Klaus to stay in the moment. “We’re proud of you.”_ _

__Klaus snorted, curling in on himself when another firework sounded, “Speak for yourself for once, Ben. Rude to put words in other people’s mouths.”_ _

__“Like you’d know,” Ben grinned. “Always telling them what I said. Such lies you tell them. _’Ben would agree with me, Ben says no, Ben wants breakfast foods’_.”_ _

__“You love waffles,” Klaus protested, smiling some. “Everyone loves waffles.”_ _

__Ben laughed, sharing a grin with Klaus. He knew that earlier he had been worried about having to share Klaus, but in that moment he knew he was never going to be replaced. Ben would always be there for his brother and it seemed as if Klaus knew that. Klaus knew that Ben would never leave him, no matter how bad Klaus got. Hell, he’d never left him alone when he was a homeless junkie, Ben would have no problem dealing with sober, veteran Klaus._ _

__“Yeah, Klaus. Everyone loves waffles.” He hoped Klaus knew what he meant was _everyone loves you_._ _


End file.
